The Incomplete
by profiler120
Summary: Kagome has a change of priorities - but even she didn't forsee this kind of consequence. But with Naraku - who ever does? [NarKag] [COMPLETE]
1. Part I

The Incomplete

**Part One**

* * *

Author: profiler120

Email: profiler120@hotmail.com

Rating: R 

Genre: [ Drama, Romance] 

Pairing: Naraku x Kagome

Disclaimer: Did you know, I don't own Inuyasha? 

* * *

Author's Notes1: This is based off of my need to do a fic with the lyrics from "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence, I'm sure you know the one. It's been done **so **many times, but how many people did it with Naraku & Kagome?? ^_^ 

Exactly. Check it out. You might like it. 

* * *

I stared, eyes shimmering with tears. So that's the way it was going to be? I lowered my gaze from the mirror. I was stronger than this. I could go back and pretend I didn't know what he'd said to her. I could carry on, doing everything in my power to protect him. After all, he needed protection. He acted all big and tough, but he was the one who was weak, exposed. He was the one that had fallen to his emotions again and again. It had led to his 'death'. It had led to hers. Inuyasha and Kikyo. The two of them were a continual drama.

One that my current guest sought to put an end to with me. I turned my blue crystalline gaze back to him, but he was just smirking knowingly. Expecting me to hurl angry words or to slip to the betrayal he was offering me. I set my determination firmly. I could do this... but strangely... I didn't want to.

I didn't want to bear the suffering alone. I was tired of hurting for things I couldn't change. He knew, I thought staring into his ruby colored eyes. He understood. He was half the reason I was in pain to begin with, wasn't he?__

. . . how can you see into my eyes like open doors . . . 

Him. Kikyo. That pest, Urusae. She was truly to blame, but Kikyo had removed her. Who else was left but Naraku? The hanyou almost _beaming _at me? Who but him was responsible for this pain?

I wanted to yell, to scream at him, to hurl things angrily at him. I wanted the sound of shattering glass in my ears, but there was none to be had. None. Nothing. No one. Just him. Just Naraku staring at me with those calm, calculating eyes. Those eyes, which had predicated everything that would happen here today. __

. . . leading you down into my core . . . 

The careful strategist - nothing at all like the brash Inuyasha who thought nothing out, merely acting on impulses. No, this one knew me. He knew me so implicitly, so completely. He knew my secrets, my life, and my character by nothing more than his observations. He'd pinned me down so carefully. Planned everything out so perfectly. He'd maneuvered Kikyo and Inuyasha as easily as ever playing into his hand and all just to bring me to this cross road. Where he expected me to depart from my other path and lead me directly to him. 

"What do you think miko? Surely you are better than this suffering."

I raised my chin just a bit higher. I _was _better than this. I could do better. Yet at the same time, I doubted such. I seemed to be a magnet for pain. What had this time period brought me but pain? I was in no mood to dwell on the positives. I was in no mood to dwell on anything. My mind was blank save for the pain. It hurt. Why did it have to hurt? Why did he have to be the one here at this time? Why did he have to be the one to show me something I would have been happier _not knowing_? 

Even still, I knew why. It was because he thrived on pain. Kikyo's, Inuyasha's, mine - we were his three favorite torture subjects. Probably in that order, but others had suffered as well. Miroku and Sango were not to be forgotten. But I didn't want it to hurt. 

I wanted him to stop. To leave me alone. I wanted him dead. I wanted the strangely attractive man in front of me to cease breathing. I wanted him to fall over where he stood and see this false body destroyed. I did not act on my impulses. They were weak. I wondered then if I truly desired his death, and if I didn't what I was hunting him for. Was I doing all of this just to stay with Inuyasha? Perhaps some twisted loyalty to Shippou or my friends? Maybe I'd trapped myself with some constricting responsibility to the broken Shikon. It was technically my fault.

My fault. I scoffed. 

. . . where I've become so numb . . . 

Why was I feeling this way? Why now? Why him? Why couldn't I just give in to my base desires and flee? Run? Escape from this place? Seal the well and try my hardest to forget it ever existed. Even as my thoughts wandered, his gaze held steady. He trapped me so easily with those red eyes. He knew me. He was trying to destroy me, and now I found it utterly enthralling. When had I been entranced by Naraku? Did it even matter? __

. . . without a soul . . . 

I wondered fleetingly if she were corrupting me. Kikyo. The parts of me that gave Kikyo life and enabled her to falsely breathe.

"What do you want with me? Why did you come here?" 

An empty question, we both knew. He was here for me. He was here to drop me back into my pond of pain. One he hadn't created, but I'm sure he'd have liked to take credit for. He must enjoy it; he was here leading me to it. 

That was all though. He wanted me. It gave me a sick, crawly feeling, but one that sent delightful shivers over my body. He wanted me because of _her. _I could be a living, breathing replacement for her. For Kikyo. Somehow, the thought boosted me just as much as it tore me down. He would take **me** over the baked clay falsity that was Kikyo, but Inuyasha would not. 

. . . _my spirit sleeping somewhere cold . . . _

"How much time will you waste on him? When will you learn?" His voice reached me again. Smooth, soft, utterly beguiling. I wondered off handedly if my mother would take one glance at him and determine he was evil or if it was a subtle evil. I couldn't tell. My thoughts of him were now so tainted I would never be able to see him for other than what he was. A painful manipulator. One that hurt me. One that sent chills through me. 

"I am here for you, miko. Let me help. Let me _heal _you."

I scoffed again. 

. . . _until you find it there and lead it back home . . . _

"Heal? You are incapable of healing." My voice was feeble, lacking the conviction, the anger I wanted. 

"How do you know?" he taunted, a grin playing across his perfect lips. 

"I want..." I whispered. "You can't give me... what I want."

He grinned again. "Can I not, miko? _Kagome_." He spoke my name as though it were the magic word.

I scoffed. "Do not say that. Don't say my name; go on pretending I am a replacement for her. Its better that way, it's the way I expect it to be."

"But that hurts, doesn't it? It is clear as day you and she are _different _people. I can heal. Let me heal, Kagome." He spoke it again and I frowned.

"No." Silence fell between us. "I have made a decision about you though, one you will like."

His grin returned. "Oh?"

"I will make a deal with you. I will continue on with Inuyasha, traveling to collect the shards and I will give them all to you provided you let me do _one thing_."

"Name it." His voice was so utterly serious and devoid of deceit, it scared me. It was raw with need. He wanted this jewel, lusted after it more than anything.

"When it is complete, allow me to make your wish for you." 

He cocked his head to the side. "You think me a fool, miko?"

"Oh, but think of it. Can you imagine how crushed Inuyasha would be at me granting you your one true wish with the jewel? Can you see the weight of the betrayal on his shoulders after I spent so much time with him collecting the jewel he wants for himself?"

His mouth set into a grim line. "We will see." 

I smiled stepping forward standing up tall to throw my arms around his neck, startling him. 

"If I don't get what I want, I will purify you into oblivion." I smiled sweetly at him pressing my lips to his briefly. "Do I taste as you imagine _she _would have?" 

He flung out an arm, shoving me backwards and I tripped hitting the ground painfully. He glared at me, eyes full of silent fury. 

. . . _Wake me up inside . . ._

He had pushed me away, but it didn't matter. I would get it, he knew it, and I knew it. He would allow me to make his wish, but he would never acknowledge my threat. That however I suspected was not what had disturbed him so much. Turmoil was swimming in his eyes and I wondered that perhaps he argued with Onigumo. Probably over my uncharacteristic boldness, but I was hurting right now. I was probably half-insane now so I didn't bother thinking about it. 

It didn't matter though. We both felt Inuyasha coming, his voice breaking through the forest, his voice calling out my name. I smiled at him and he stepped back and then again, vanishing in a miasma funnel just as Inuyasha tore wildly into the clearing, wielding Tetsusaiga. 

"Kagome, are you all right?" 

I glanced at him. His eyes were practically glowing with the 'worried' look. The look reserved for Kikyo, I thought bitterly. 

"Just fine," I replied and began walking back to camp. I met the others moments later, rushing to the 'battleground' with weapons drawn. "What's everyone so worked up for?" I asked, passing by.

"What were you doing with Naraku?" He called back after me. 

I turned toward him, remembering all too well I was angry with him.

"Why?" 

Our gazes met in a silent clash and I knew he knew my anger was not of the ordinary type. He was clearly perplexed. __

. . . (I can't wake up). . . 

We went back to camp. Life went on. I stared down at the bottle of Shikon shards in my hands. We had ten. Ten whole shards, amazing really, we hadn't already lost them to Kikyo, but I was not the same girl as before. I wondered how much the others had noticed but Kikyo noticed it easily. I tried not to think of her though. 

Months past and autumn fell and winter came on quickly after that. I enjoyed it though. The cold. Something about it harmonized with the cold inside me. The cold, unyielding discontent that brewed fiercely within me, but that I kept guarded like the most treasured secret. No one could know about that. 

We were in another village - another guest room acquired by Miroku's unique brand of talent. I didn't even hear him approach until I felt the hand grab my butt. I yelped, and instinctively whirled around to slap him. He accepted his punishment quietly, even with a laugh. He'd expected me to do it. He could have stopped me. He didn't. He just held a hand up to his stinging cheek and smiled at me.

"Something has been bothering you Kagome-sama, hasn't it? For a long while now."

"We are walking a difficult path, one that leads to Naraku. But once we converge at that point our paths diverge away from each other," I mused aloud.

"That is life, Kagome-sama. " 

I cracked a smile of my own. "Maybe." 

"Is there nothing wrong with you and Inuyasha?"

I smiled. 

"I made a decision a while back and it's effecting me in ways I hadn't quite thought it would." It was the truth. My betrayal to Inuyasha ate away at me everyday. It didn't help I had dreams of him, Naraku. Taunting me. Trapping me. Hurting me. _Touching me_. 

I knew I had spoken in my sleep. Sango had told me. I'd even woken once or twice his name upon my lips. __

I didn't know what my companions thought about my dreams of Naraku, and I dared not ask, but I could see the curiosity on their faces when they looked at me from time to time. Yet the looks I received were never suspicion. Never. I, Higurashi Kagome, was trusted. My betrayal would be a bitter pill to swallow. It would crush them and I could not escape that fact. __

. . . Wake me up inside . . . 

The night was a cold, merciless thing. I knew from my surroundings that I was dreaming. On a plane of consciousness other than reality. He was near me somewhere. This was not new to me. He had visited many times in my dreams since that afternoon.

"Miko?" He called out, his voice a distant echo. 

Yet I could feel him as he pressed seductively up against me. His breath fanning against my cheek as he leaned down to me, but when I turned he was not there.

"Stop playing games Naraku, just get out here." 

I didn't like this place. It gave me a crawly feeling. It was so dimly lit I couldn't see very well. Naraku's presence was all around me, I felt enclosed. Trapped. 

. . . (Save me) . . .

It gathered, swirling and twirling around me. I cast my eyes wildly, trying to trace it but it was everywhere. It snaked down every corridor, clinging to the walls of my memory, and my mind dangerously. It coiled around me alternating between the feel of cold hands and warm breaths. It swirled around my ankles trickling up my bare legs. It pressed against me with a strange solidness it shouldn't have had, floating along my skin as it slicked higher and higher.

It swept up my chest like a summers breeze, and touched itself against the pale column of my neck. It trailed further until I felt it pressing, teasing, and questing at the seam of my lips. I kept my mouth defiantly closed refusing the toxic miasma the passage it so desperately sought in its quest to fill and corrupt me. 

It was a wasted effort as I breathed heavy through my nostrils, pulling a large puff of the black fog within me. I choked violently feeling as though I'd swallowed a sock. I clutched my throat desperately, only pulling in more and more of his signature, deadly fog. It was invading me, corrupting my pure body, infecting every cell and pore, turning my own body against me. I felt myself weaken. My own body was betraying me.

. . . call my name and save me from the dark. . . 

_My knees gave out and I fell heavy onto them, dropping down onto the plane I believed to be beneath me in this dimension-less space. I coughed violently suffering further. My vision was becoming splotchy, now the black surrounding me was dotted with patches of grays. I let my eyes fall closed, body now adjusting to the heavily poisoned air I was breathing. Losing my balance, I felt myself falling over and felt warm arms encircle me as I impacted upon another body. Fingers laced through my hair and I weakly felt soft lips press against my forehead._

"You make me proud, miko."

. . . (Wake me up) . . .

Words. Soft words whispered in my ear. I sat up, trying to shake off the dream. My chest felt strangely heavy, burdened. It was a familiar feeling; I'd woken from my dreams feeling this way many times since that afternoon in the forest. I always felt this way after one of Naraku's miasmic dreams. The haunted quality left me feeling cold and dirty... almost defiled. 

I sat up; it was before dawn, my companions still slept. I quietly crept away, grabbing my bag and headed to the lake nearby. It was leech-infected water, but that wasn't enough to keep me away. I _had _to bathe myself. I headed off, unable to conquer the strange 'corrupted' feeling that was holding me down. Each time the feeling only got stronger.

I heard a rustle as I reached the water's edge and turned, realizing too late I'd forgotten my bow. I whirled toward my visitor only to find Kikyo staring back dispassionately at me. The way she was staring was making me slightly edgy and the tingly, odd feeling only seemed to intensify in her presence.

"Weakling. How could you let yourself become corrupted?" She spat.

The dreams I knew. They were the source of her words, and maybe deep down I understood and wanted to pretend I didn't. The physical feeling left in my body was proof enough of that which I wanted to forget. He _was _corrupting me. Pulling me through a dreamscape and slowly possessing me, and I was not fighting it. My resistance was weak at best, if at all.

"Mind your own business." I snapped. "It has nothing to do with you."

I hated her. I despised the fact she lived... I wondered briefly if these feelings, which seemed so much more intense, now were being affected by Naraku's miasmic treatments given in the night. They were infrequent, once a week, maybe, but that's all it took. 

"Keep upon this path you will no longer be able to sense the shards. Once he has completely corrupted you, you will lose your purifying abilities and the Shikon jewel will no longer have a guardian."

Why was she telling me this? Wasn't it her desire to take the jewel? She _had_ stolen it from me on previous occasions. I gasped suddenly realizing what she was saying, how it would affect me. Naraku - the wish! I asked him to let me make the wish. He was corrupting me so I could make his wish!!!

Of course. He'd want me to be as tainted as he had made the jewel, increasing his evil powers. The news shook me bodily. I was stunned, and startled and worried. He was slowly stripping me of my ability to purify and I was allowing him to do it. But what now? What should I do? 

I heard clothes rustle and raised my eyes back to Kikyo, but it was too late. She released the arrow and it struck me solidly in the chest. I gasped hard, sucking air deep in my lungs as the arrow thrust through me painfully. __

. . .bid my blood to run . . .

The arrowhead pierced my torso, but didn't pass through to the other side, blood seeped through my clothing, but there was little pain after the first awful inward thrust. There was the glow. The familiar purifying force. She was -? Purifying me? Was Kikyo undoing all of Naraku's careful handiwork on me? I could feel the purified energy seeping through my body once again, destroying the miasma-laden cells throughout my body. I could hear a faint hiss, see as the black fog seeped out of me, and back into the air, slowly fading away as it was diluted in the open air. The glow faded, I looked up, but she was gone. The glow was gone, Kikyo was gone, but the pain returned. How was I going to hide this from my friends? __

. . . (I can't wake up) . . 

Evil laughter pervaded my ears. It was all I could hear. His voice. His laughter. His menacing words toward my friends. Awful words that were made worse by the fact that they were true. All true. All about me. 

They were all spread out around me. Everyone. Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Kirara, Kagura, Kohaku, Sesshoumaru, Jaken, Kikyo, Kouga... all of them. Everyone was here to witness this final, climatic battle. The betrayal. 

"Come now, my lovely. We have an agreement." 

Everyone's eyes turned to me, and I snapped out of my little daydream. Naraku's ruby colored eyes were leveled upon my frame, an evil gleam glowing brightly there. I turned to him, facing him solidly, and nodded grimly. I had made a deal with him, I would carry it out. I would. 

. . ._ before I come undone . . . _

I nodded to him again, more assuredly, stunning the people around me. I walked to him, ignoring the gaping stares. I would make the wish. 

"Name it." 

"Can you not guess miko? I am not a full being, rid me of Onigumo's spirit."

"You wish to be a full youkai?" I asked, somewhat stunned. "That's it?" 

"As though it were such a minor thing..." he drawled. 

Behind me, I felt it. I felt Kikyo draw back her bow and waited as Naraku handed me the jewel keeping me close enough to kill if I showed the slightest disobedience. I lowered my head, waiting for the impact, and then it came. I gasped dramatically although it wasn't a difficult thing. My back seemed to explode in pain, I was glad I was turned away from her. The last time she'd hit me with an arrow just seeing it in my chest was almost unbearable.

I allowed myself to fall forward against Naraku as though overcome with pain. I felt the purifying magic seeping in me again undoing all of Naraku's hard work a second time. I clutched his baboon pelt with my hands drawing myself up with cinematic effort trying to look weak and pathetic. I coiled my arms around his neck, the Shikon no tama glowing in one hand and I quietly whispered the wish to the jewel. 

My vision was getting brighter and brighter. Everything was fading into a blinding white haze. I felt Naraku's arms snake around me, one hand sliding through my air. I felt his lips press against mine before my vision faded completely out. 

. _. . (Save me) . . . _

_"I have been waiting, Kagome. Do you really wish to give the power of the jewel to one so evil?" _

I opened my eyes staring through the brilliant white haze. "I want Naraku and Onigumo separated. And purified. Let Onigumo return to his human body and live out the rest of his life suffering for his misdeeds. Let Naraku be the youkai he wants, a simple, pleasant forest youkai with no ill will." 

A female figure emerged before me a smile upon her face. "Most gentle forest youkai are beastly creatures. Your carnal thoughts toward Naraku will corrupt the wish and there is no telling how it would affect him." 

"Carnal thoughts?"

Kagome blinked, vision clearing suddenly. A woman, Midoriko, she realized - glowed before her, a small smile on her face.

"You have willingly allowed yourself to be tainted by him, even now he affects you. If you do not want this tragedy to start again you, must make another wish or risk having Naraku cause trouble for the world again. You are no longer able to completely purify him."

Kagome hung her head. "I see." 

"Your wish?"

Kagome glanced up. "Strip Naraku of Onigumo, and reduce him to a single type hanyou - like Inuyasha." 

Midoriko blinked. 

"He cannot be purified, but as a hanyou perhaps he can be contained. If he loses his ability to steal the strength of other youkai and the jewel is gone from him." 

. . . save me from the nothing I've become . . .

I was corrupt. _Corrupt_. No longer pure. It was sad in a way, perhaps a disappointment but in another way it thrilled me. I was no longer perfect. I was no longer Kikyo's shadow, and yet 

It was utterly reviling. I was corrupt. I was not Kikyo's living' shadow. Now I was becoming a mirror image of the corrupt miko that haunted the land stealing souls.__

. . . now that I know what I'm without . . .

* * *

[End Chapter One]

Author's Notes: It's kind of short, but this is really a one-shot, honestly. One more chapter, as soon as I finish it, and it'll be over. 

I decided to post this to 'make an appearance', if that makes any sense to you. I've been gone awhile, didn't want anyone thinking I was abandoning any of my work, although I am spending most of my time with RK fandom works. 

By the way, Blind Stitch 12 has been completed. It is the final chapter, it will be posted this Sunday. 


	2. Part II

_**The Incomplete **_

Part II

Disclaimer: Did you know, I don't own Inuyasha?

* * *

I sat up, shaking off the dream. It too was as familiar as Naraku's toxic miasma. I feared it was prophetic. The night air was thick and cold – stinging my throat. I glanced toward the tree where Inuyasha had lain, but he was gone. I frowned.

If I ever needed a reminder of why I was doing this, there it was. But I had determined I was being petty and immature. Inuyasha loved Kikyo, and I had to accept that. Would I be able to handle it if Naraku killed Inuyasha and brought _him _back? Would I be able to put an arrow through him to send him back to hell? Would I? I didn't know but I feared I couldn't.

I hadn't liked my conclusion, but I accepted it. It was truth and I wouldn't lie to myself. Inuyasha had loved Kikyo, and I hoped that Kikyo had loved him.

I was risking all for this. It was simply easier on everyone that I took this path. Naraku would be placated and removed as an obstacle, Inuyasha would not get the wish to make himself a youkai and thus preserve his heart and hopefully the curse on Miroku would be broken with Naraku's transformation and subsequent loss of power.

But I could only hope.

I stood, shuffling out of my blankets. I did not fear waking my companions. Shippou was curled up with Kirara and Miroku and Sango had fallen into a dead sleep both being exhausted from a job they'd gone off alone on. Some extermination job that Sango had been eager to see to, being the last of her clan I suspected she carried on in their honor.

I shuffled lazily to where I knew a river lie. It was in the forested section near the right side of camp, and I headed in that direction. I stumbled blindly, but quietly through the forest praying Kikyo and Inuyasha were elsewhere and I would not run into them.

I was lucky, but not lucky enough.

_He _was there.

I could tell by the way he was standing he'd expected me. He was watching me, I realized with sudden clarity. Watching my every move even though I could not see him in return. I scowled, damn him, those bugs and Kanna, I thought irritably. Maybe I was just tired. Maybe he really was annoying.

"Naraku..." I whispered, fumbling forward.

"Evening, my lovely. I was waiting for you. Come."

He spoke like we were lovers. I felt like a dainty maiden from a romance novel, helpless but to obey his wishes. But there were no promises of unearthly passion to be found in his arms, or none that I was presently aware of. I absently hoped he had no such intentions because the thought was a little creepy.

It gave me chills, but not the good kind. If there was a good king. I liked to think there was.

He laughed lowly. "Problems, lovely?"

"Why do you call me that?" My voice was annoyed I was certain. I felt annoyed; I didn't like his little pet name 'lovely'. It sounded... too _weird _coming out of his mouth.

He merely chuckled again, his form shifting as he moved stalking closer. I realized then he had leapt from one side of the riverbank to the other, closer to me.

I walked straight up to him with less fear than I should have and stood boldly before him. His hands descended coming to rest on my shoulders. One hand slid down to the hem of my pink night shirt and came to rest over the bandage where Kikyo had shot me with an arrow.

It was a wound I'd not managed to conceal from my friends. Inuyasha had immediately smelt my blood and I'd had a hard time explaining it, and in the end I hadn't been believed, but eventually he stopped his questioning when he was distracted by something else.

His nimble fingers tore off the bandage with such force I winced at the pain.

"Kikyo interfered..."

He probed his finger at the fragile opening in my flesh, causing me to tense. His finger shifted and thrust suddenly straight through the wound into my torso just as his other hand clamped over my mouth. He leaned down, nuzzling his head against my almost in a comforting fashion.

I gasped, trembling from the pain, but not enough so to cloud my head into thinking nothing. I wound an up arm, sliding a hand up his back to rest at the base of his neck and curling my fingers to rest on his shoulder. I was instinctively driven and followed the feeling, and I drove my nails into his flesh, little sparks of white erupted as my miko powers flared to life.

His head reared up in obvious pain although no sound tore from his lips. Suddenly I was pulled, painfully, to the ground as Naraku's knees fell out from under him. We both impacted hard, the hit shaking our bodies and probably bruising my knees.

That was unexpected, but extremely convenient.

His head turned down to me, blood red eyes alit dangerously. His teeth glinted dangerously in the moonlight and all the sudden I felt like a fly caught in a spider's web waiting for him to sink his teeth into me and devour me from within.

He licked his lips. "I have underestimated you, lovely."

He leaned his head closer to mine, our foreheads brushing. I lifted my chin, determined not to be frightened and he only seemed to grin in response.

_. . . breathe into me and make me real. . . _

"Absolutely," I breathed in response. What I meant by that, I hadn't a clue, but it sounded good.

Had he underestimated me? Probably not. I felt fairly predictable.

"Sweet..." he whispered, sliding his lips against my cheek.

Should I be revolted? Did the warmth of his skin have anything to offer but the threat of pain? Did I dare stay still and find out?

His finger, still embedded within me shifted and I gasped in pain. Ah, it hurt!

"I...itai..." I murmured brokenly.

His lips turned back into a sinister grin as he stared down at me.

"Pain is healthy, lovely."

I narrowed my eyes. "Is it?"

Well I was more than willing to test that little theory. I was about to do just that when....

"_Kyyyahhh!"_

A scream tore through the forest, startling me and my companion. Who was that? Naraku pulled away from me quickly standing and leapt to the other side of the river. That, at least, meant it wasn't in his plans for this to happen. He looked as surprised as I was.

So where had the mysterious scream come from?

Silence surrounded us.

A span of several minutes elapsed and he looked back at me. "Another time then, lovely."

I growled. "Don't call me that."

I heard him chuckle as he vanished into the night. "You'll learn to like it."

_

* * *

. . . bring me to life . . . _

Jewel shards. Jewel shards. Jewel shards. Sesshoumaru! Jewel shards. The story of my life.

My life sucked.

Majorly.

"Oi, wench! Hurry up!"

I scowled for effect more than feeling. I wasn't feeling anything really. I was a bit on the empty side today. I awoke feeling that way. Strangely empty and apathetic. I wasn't feeling any better now although it had been a couple hours.

Damn Naraku, I bet it was his fault.

I suddenly had a bad thought. What if fraternizing with Naraku caused my hair to turn gray and my skin to sag? Could that happen?

Who knows, it was possible.

Maybe I'd seen one too many movie trailers at home. There was this horror craze going on and every time I turned around some sneak peak was on the TV.

I sighed heavily, feeling burdened.

I couldn't help but notice Miroku casting concerned sidelong glances at me. So when he fell into step with me I wasn't surprised, I expected him to start asking about my 'condition' any minute now.

It was an odd phrase. _'How is your condition, Kagome-sama?' _He'd asked me a couple times before, after the Naraku dreams started.

At first I'd been horrified because I thought he knew what was going on with me. I was afraid he'd discovered, however impossible, that Naraku was using my dreams as a means to corrupt me, but I don't think even his monk powers could enable him to do that. He wasn't Kikyo.

"How is your condition, Kagome-sama?"

I smiled. There it was.

"Do I seem unwell?" I plastered on a smile, slapping his arm. "I'm okay. A bit tired though. This traveling gets to me sometimes."

There was disbelief in his eyes, but he dared not question me. Ah, the sympathetic, non-intrusive monk, darling that he was, would never pry into my personal business. Just as well, I had zero intentions of telling him anything anyway.

My reassuring smile didn't help. No one was reassured, neither Miroku, nor Sango or Shippou. If Inuyasha was concerned, he certainly wasn't showing it. In fact, he was out ahead of us, once again 'scouting'.

I barely repressed a bitter curse under my breath. I wondered just what he was scouting for: jewel shards, Naraku, or Kikyo.

I supposed that helped, a major plus for Naraku's quest to destroy the purity of my soul. Complete and utter corruption - wouldn't he just love to turn me into a black miko?

I smiled acrimoniously

Ahead of us I heard the rushing sounds of water. We arrived at the water front and stared across. It was too wide to cross walking and it looked like it went down for a long while, so we couldn't walk around. Maybe we could walk to a more shallow area but there didn't seem to be one. On the other side I could just make out a beaten path toward a village. Smoke trails hung high in the sky from hut fires. I smiled weakly. Civilization!

Now we just had to get across... only... where was Inuyasha?

Laughter caused me to turn only to see Kirara screech as Shippou grabbed her tail. The next thing I knew I was suddenly shoved by a collision by a heavy body and tipping forward. I attempted, vainly, to regain my balance but I was leaning too far. The water broke my fall and I sank quickly. The water was cold and I immediately moved, shifting to soar upward to break the surface of the water.

I pulled my head up, but cold hands seemed to suddenly appear from every direction. Large, dark colored hands with long, thin wrists that connected to nothing and just vanished farther down until you could not see them anymore. They clamped down on my body, shoulders, wrists, elbows, across my mouth and down my legs.

I felt a pair of warms wrap around my waist and then wind around a second time. The feeling was utterly disgusting.

Then I was falling, being dragged further beneath the water that had suddenly turned black and thick. Like Naraku's toxic miasma but gooey like slime and slick to the touch. It was everywhere and the dark hands were pulling me further and further into it. The mush hurt my eyes so I closed them, my struggles ineffective.

Deep laughter drew my stinging eyes open again.

"Nara-" I immediately closed my mouth as the black goo rushed in. I struggled and twisted, trying to squirm away from the cold, but firm grip of the hands. The slime in my mouth was bitter, and I was forced to swallow the icky goop. I scowled and Naraku erupted into amused laughter.

"Like that, lovely?"

I struggled to speak, but couldn't.

"That bitch Kikyo interfered. Be sure to thank her next time. I'm actually quite grateful, since she undid my very gentle corruption of you, I'll be rougher this time."

Heat seared up my arm suddenly and I choked back a violent cough as more black goo filled my mouth. The pain was great, my knees felt weak. I collapsed, falling down into the depthless void.

My arm was burning, a deep throbbing pain from my wrist to my elbow that was slowly becoming numb. It seemed to take forever before I couldn't feel it anymore. I couldn't feel anything. I couldn't even flex my fingers.

Just as I thought the agonizing deed was done and I'd be free of him for a while the same happened to my other arm.

"What do you think, lovely? All at once? Or a little at a time?"

I whimpered weakly. "Oh, please..."

He materialized in front of me. I don't know how I knew with my eyes closed I could just feel it. Naraku was something there, something you could feel even if you never touched. When my eyes opened, there he was, just like I knew he'd be.

He towered over my kneeling form. I could only imagine how I looked.

His eyes were dark, burning with an intensity that threatened to consume.

"Please?" He leaned toward me, kneeling in front of me. "Are you begging, lovely?" A hand reached forward, patting my head gently before sliding back. He clawed his fingers through my hair, snapping my head back, tilting my chin up.

"Begging this Naraku?" He repeated, a grin tugging at his lips.

I could only tremble in response thankful the black goo had vanished upon Naraku's 'arrival'. He leaned close, his breath fanning my face. His hands were cold, I realized as the fingertips of his other hand drifted down my cheek.

His mouth touched my opposite cheek, his hand sliding along my shoulder. He pulled back slowly, eyes alit as I choked back a gasp. My mouth gaped open and I trembled feeling something... Something...

Slimy, beneath my clothes.

Something... alive... Squiggling around against my stomach. It felt like a snake, no, maybe an eel. Slick and wet, but not scaly and tough, but definitely alive. I froze in complete horror, feeling the thing against my skin.

**Nudge.**

**Slide.**

**Nudge.**

**Shimmy.**

It moved, sliding around my abdomen in a way that was quickly causing me to feel nauseous.

I tried to move, but my arms were numb. I was trembling now, unable to stop it, unable to get it off... unable... unable to do anything!

I felt it sliding around my back now. It seemed to be lengthening, the tip of it still around my side. It squirmed and moved, sliding up around me. It slid beneath the front clasp of my bra strap and the material snapped, popping open. The slick, flat feeling head slid up, between my breasts toward my shoulder, and then across my back to the other shoulder.

It tightened it's body around me a moment, and then moved outward. Pressing tight against my clothes. I realized the intent when I heard them ripping.

I wasn't sure which mattered more. That I was numb from the neck down or naked from the neck to my waist. Naraku seemed pleased enough.

His eyes roved over me with the complete assurance of ownership. As though he'd done this a thousand times before.

"Pretty."

Well, way to splurge on the compliments, I thought bitterly. But I didn't care. What did it matter to me what some insane half-demon creature thought of my body?

"Pretty?" I snapped.

I changed my mind.

I'll be damned if I'm letting that one go.

Like I was some daisy growing outside the garden bed. 'Pretty' but not beautiful, something that looked nice, but nothing you wanted to keep. A flower that eventually got stepped on, trodden down and forgotten.

I growled, but the pressure of cold hands had me yelping. He pressed his hands against me, his fingers sliding down my chest, pinching my skin periodically along the way.

And I couldn't move!

No!

I tried. I shifted and shimmied, but to no avail - I wasn't moving.

"Jerk, pervert, sicko... let me up!"

"Up?" He murmured, his voice sliding with the ease of shadows along the ground. "Up from where?"

He laughed and I felt my anger rise a few more indignant notches. He dropped his hands to the waistband of my skirt and panic set in.

Oh no, in a big way!

"W-What do you think you're doing?"

He flicked his tongue against my ear sensuously before gently nipping at the bottom of the fleshy lobe. He drew it into his mouth, sucking softly before releasing it to whisper. "Don't ask stupid questions..."

He dragged the skirt off, dropping it to the ground before sliding his fingers beneath the cotton sides of my panties at my hips.

"And if I say 'stop'?" I asked, trying to contain my pounding heart.

Unfortunately, it wasn't listening.

Terror, it seemed, wasn't controlled by rational thought.

He curled his fingers up to the band at my waist and slowly pulled it off. I nearly fainted as I felt a cold breeze sweeping against my body.

_... frozen inside without your touch ..._

His fingers danced down my body gently and then crept around to my back. My head fell back, mouth opening into a moan of pain as I felt the points of his nails as he shoved them into my flesh.

"Stay with me, lovely. It's going to get a lot more fun than this."

He pushed me and I felt myself tumbling backwards. I could, thankfully, still see him. I watched, somewhere between horror and fascination as he shifted, the white baboon fur falling from his frame like a cape in a perfectly captured cinema sequence.

Why didn't guys with this much sexy charisma live back in my time? All I got was nervous, admittedly boringly cute, guys like Houjo. I could've growled, but my eyes were glued to the specimen of male flesh before me.

He was naked under there?

**Whoa.**

Whoa, indeed, I thought, my eyes traveling south. Bare to the skin from head to toe. Although my eyes weren't currently on his feet.

I felt the blush stain my cheeks as I stared - that wasn't a good sign. No.

Nope, definitely not.

That meant his... his... oooh, he wanted...

Yeah, well, I could've guessed. I mean, clothes off, nails, pain, and now Naraku's naked. Oh yeah, there was one direction here and I think it meant raw, probably painful sex ahead.

I don't recall agreeing to this.

No, no agreement.

None.

I looked up.

Oh, hell, I wasn't getting away, I still couldn't move.

This was not agreeable!

He moved closer and my heart fluttered even more.

"What do you think, lovely?" It was obvious how pleased he was, he was practically purring.

He put his hands on my knees and I trembled bodily, from my head to my feet. Or, was that a shudder?

He bent my knees, pushing them up to lay my feet on the ground and then pushed them apart, crawling up to hover over me.

Of all the things I'd never imagined happening to myself.

He leaned down and I felt _it_ pressing against my thigh. Hot and hard - there was no mistaking that, was there?

He grinned.

"Like the feel of that?"

"If I say 'no' will you enjoy it more?" I heard myself talking, but I think I was gone. It was a true 'out of my mind-be back in 5 minutes' moment.

His laughter was the only response I got.

* * *

[End Chapter Two]

Author's Notes: One more chapter, just one.

I'm in the process of writing "Prisoner, My Prisoner". 8 pages currently, at least 4 more to go, don't expect it for a few more weeks.


	3. Part III Final

_**The Incomplete **_

Part 3 - Final

(Version replaced 9/17/04 to fix spelling errors)

* * *

Author: profiler120

Email: See Profile.

Rating: R

Genre: Drama, Romance

Pairing: Naraku x Kagome

Disclaimer: Did you know, I don't own Inuyasha?

Note(s): R rated for non-explicit citrus scenes.

* * *

Note: The final scene switches back to Kagome's 1st person, p.o.v. which is pretty obvious when you get there. (This only happens cause I forgot I was writing it in 1st person when I started it and I wrote the ending scene before the beginning and it got confusing.)

* * *

Kagome woke slowly, her eyes felt heavier than usual. What happened? She sat up feeling achy. When had her head become so heavy?

She pushed her hands down flat against the ground, raising herself up. She gasped seeing dark bruises down her naked skin. Around her abdomen, her wrists... She was guessing there was more around her neck because it hurt when she moved certain ways.

She stood, searching for her clothes, but only found scraps of material. She could've laughed bitterly, but instead only tears bubbled. Her legs wobbled shakily beneath her and she tried, fruitlessly, to blink away a dizzy spell.

The breeze swept by, deceptively gentle in her ears, but left a grating feeling on her skin.

She hobbled to the water's edge and peered down into the murkiness, staring at her pale complexion. She looked like Kikyo.

Now more than ever.

Her face held the pale tint of death. Was her skin cold also? It looked cold. Clammy-like. The kind of skin no one wanted to touch. The skin of those close to death.

A pasty look.

Ewww... She was grimacing at her own face.

That was never good.

Where were the others? Where was Inuyasha? Where was he now, when she needed him and that irascible temper to pick up her spirits? Where was Sango and Kirara? And Shippou? And Miroku... And..

The tears that had pricked her eyes before returned now with a vengeance - spilling over onto chilled cheeks.

Her face pinkened with her sharp upwelling of emotion, and her eyes became glassy. She sank down to the ground. Her eye caught on slip of white and she turned, finding the discarded white baboon pelt Naraku so often concealed himself beneath.

She reached for the garment and pulled it around her shaking shoulders, tucking it around her tightly on every side as though to keep nature out. Or maybe just her corruption in.

She sat there numbly, wrapping the tainted animal pelt tighter around her frame. She shook while she cried.

Tears spilled over until her cheeks burned with sensitivity and her eyes felt pained.

What had she done?

What had she done to...

What had she done to herself?

Was she seduced?

Was she raped?

Was it madness?

What?

_... frozen inside without your touch ..._

Glimmers of the previous hours flitted through her head. Naraku's eyes, gleaming at her, the pressure of his hands. The bruises on her body, a powerful reminder of his avarice, his desire to own and possess her completely. Him and only him.

His voice sounded through her memory. Words, names, moans... guttural sounds that now made her feel ill. She leaned forward feeling her stomach pitch, a horrid gagging causing her to kneel, but nothing came forth. Just one forceful heave after another, saliva sliding from her mouth in long bubbly trails. She brought her hand up to her mouth, wiping away the liquid and then dragging her soiled fingers through the outside of the fur as her hacking cough subsided.

She sat back listlessly, turning her gaze up to a sky she could barely see through the treetops. Were there clouds today? It seemed dim.

She froze - her body stiffening almost painfully when she felt something prick in the air. Sharp - familiar...

Naraku...

_"Regret... is such a beautiful thing..." _

The words swept by on the breeze, hardly a sound at all.

She fell back onto the ground, pulling the fur around her only to feel unsatisfied and exposed.

There...

Here...

Watching...

There wasn't an escape.

She turned onto her side, burrowed beneath the fur completely and curled up, hiding.

Maybe tomorrow wouldn't come.

* * *

Naraku sat straighter as he heard the shuffling of footsteps down the hall. The sharp clattering of skeletons breaking apart as they were accidentally jarred by delicate footsteps sounded musically in his ears. He grinned, watching as the door slid open cautiously and bright ruby eyes peered inside.

"You called for me?" She asked, stepping inside completely, almost with an air of indifference.

His grin widened. "I told you to keep Inuyasha occupied. You arrived too late - my entire plan was almost ruined."

"But it wasn't, right?"

His eyes narrowed and she stepped back. Quite a mouth she had...

He stood slowly, taking his time, moving in a way that had her eyes focused completely on him fearfully.

"Did you enjoy spying on me instead of doing your job? Did you like watching me and my miko? Seeing her body shudder beneath me? Did you enjoy her pain? Did it look fun?" He purred, his breath against her jawbone as he leaned particularly close. "Do you want to please your Master, too?"

She trembled just slightly. He snapped his head up, curling his fingers beneath her chin shoving her back against the shoji door. The sharp sound of wood cracking split the delicate silence of the house. Kagura fell backward, the door frame breaking, the paper screen ripping as she hit the floor, trying to get away.

Kanna watched from the opposite doorway impassively.

"Disobey me again, Kagura and you'll find your stay in the basement was mild."

She swallowed hard, scrambling to kneel promptly. "Hai, Naraku-sama."

"Good girl." He murmured, turning away.

He moved, lazily back toward his open doorway. He took a deep breath as he sat, returning his gaze to Kanna's mirror and his little prize.

She was shaking and trembling beneath the fur he'd claimed her on. His lips drew back into a victorious snarl.

She was his.

The wish - the corruption.

This...

This was better than anything Onigumo could have hoped for with his impossible Kikyo lust fifty years ago. Kikyo was a pipe dream.

The stately vision of innocence and strength and femininity that longed for the sweeping male touch of corruption. The thought must have made Onigumo salivate as she tended his wounds, touching his burned, bandaged skin. _Caring_ for him.

The thought only greeted Naraku with distaste.

The very notion of Kikyo hovering over him with those impassive eyes, touching him, bandaging him, _caring_ for him, caused a deep vat of hatred to boil over within.

Kikyo was an unattainable fantasy. Visions of Kikyo in lusty daydreams would never meet up with reality. Corrupting the image was an impossibility - she was nothing anymore. Her fall - her corruption had proved less sweet than it could've been.

But now that he'd met the other one - _Kagome_ - he was certain Kikyo would never deliver to his satisfaction. Holding down a fully human, completely corruptible Kikyo fifty years ago would have never given him the power, the undeniable, earth shaking pleasure that he'd gotten from the other miko.

No.

Not at all.

Kikyo was a cold fish - unresponsive and impassionate. She'd have fought him and been obstinate.

Kagome was warm, responsive, even if she hadn't wanted it, she couldn't help respond. Her moans, pain or pleasure, tickled his ears, amused him.

Kagome had given him what Kikyo never could.

Kagome had been corrupted and of her own free will. He was inseparable from his grin. Kikyo would have held onto her morals and ethics to the very end - an unbreakable chalice.

. . . _without your love darling . . ._

It had been better than anything, he thought, watching her rise. How long had it been now? An hour? Less? Was she up already?

He watched as she began to move, lifting up her tired little head.

He licked his dry lips, excited.

Perseverance was delicious.

* * *

When it hurt too much to cry and her stomach began to ache from lack of food - Kagome felt her resolve returning. The image of her mother and brother and her life back in modern Tokyo had haunted her. At the moment nothing seemed more welcome than home, her bed, and her mother to tell her everything would be okay.

Could she just give up her family like that? Hadn't she done this, in part, to return home where she could forget about Inuyasha and this whole insane trip down the well?

If not, she certainly wanted it now.

She pulled herself up, trying to will away the dizziness but it persisted and she cursed it, but began to walk anyway. She hobbled along, slowly gaining steadiness. Her feet were bare along the sandy, cluttered ground and the occasional rock against the arch of her foot had her yelping painfully. Or worse was the unseen hole before she stepped in it, putting a straining pressure on her ankle that took several minutes to walk off.

Bastard Naraku, she thought. He was gonna get it. He was gonna pay. She was going to make sure of it.

No one did this to her and got away with it.

She walked with determination, but without direction. She was unable to tell if she walked in an endless circle, only knowing that one tree looked exactly like the next. Her feet were aching, the arches of her feet abused by nature's litter. She felt chilled as the breeze which had kicked up considerably pulled and pushed and tugged at the heavy fur, sliding under to tickle and chill her naked skin beneath.

Her hair was a tangled mess, the very feel of it made her restless for a comb. Her skin felt slick - almost greasy like. Was it from this pelt?

She was ditching the nasty thing as soon as she found an alternative, she thought.

As she walked further and longer, the sounds changed. From rattling leaves and silence, to the loud chirping of birds. Evening was setting in.

The chill in the air increased.

She picked up pace, walking until it became too dim to see the path before her. She tripped falling face first toward the dirt. She lost her grip on the fur, stepping on the corner carelessly with her foot and it ripped from her hands as she fell.

Her bare breasts scrapped along the ground as she twisted, trying to shield herself from the impact, a fallen tree limb breaking as she fell on it. The wood jutted against her skin leaving a sharp throb and probably a red mark that would bruise in the morning.

She quickly gathered the pelt and felt her way toward a rock and leaned down against it. After several minutes of listening to nature and wondering what watched her in the dark she climbed up, pulling herself into a low hanging tree.

She slept off and on. She meandered through an irritable cycle of sleep that, when morning came, left her feeling even worse than if she'd stayed awake and kept moving.

She hopped down and continued on.

Her stomach protested mightily, growling as though threatening to devour her from within if she didn't feed it. Her head throbbed as it often did when she didn't eat, the pain shooting behind her eyes.

But what could she do?

She prayed and hoped she'd find a village. Where were all the humans?

Halfway to desperation a pungent scent caught her nose. Dull and metallic. She realized as her stomach did an uneasy flop it smelled like blood.

Lots of blood.

She turned, following the smell as best as she could, bringing her hands up to her face as she stumbled into a clearing.

Was it bad luck or divine retribution that her life seemed to be going in such a direction? A village - finally...

And everyone was dead.

She swallowed, trying to steel herself against the images of the fallen, but the gore almost overtook her.

Queasy, she ran through, half dragging her pelt, almost tripping as she went - too disturbed to even rifle through the place for rice until she reached the back edge of the village.

Beyond a grove of low-growing trees a tall fence loomed, and above that she could see the upper levels and peaked top of a mansion.

She stared at it, noting the splotches of blood on the bamboo fence and the brown greenery that had died, fallen over and wilted into such an icky color.

She turned, walking toward the open gap in the fence. The courtyard was littered with fully adorned skeleton's, head's tilting just so, but not falling. A precarious balance on top of piles of bones still held in the shape of their former bodies.

There was an eerie rustling through the thick atmosphere's courtyard. A faint, but thick miasma clung to the ground, gradually seeping up, closer and closer around her body. She quivered, taking a step back only to realize the fence was gone.

She was enclosed.

She snapped her head up, watching the sky shimmer purple as a barrier was erected around the immense castle.

She was...

"Kagome..." A soft, toneless voice called to her. Her eyes darted frantically around and settled on the little vision in white on the doorstep.

"Kanna..." Kagome replied back, dropping her head down.

_She was in Naraku's castle!_

The little girl waited at the doorway and Kagome moved toward it, following.

Did she have any choice at this point?

_. . . only you are the life among the dead . . . _

"What a sensitive girl you are." He drawled.

He watched her tense, even beneath the thick fur of his pelt, he could tell. Kanna had led her in, as expected.

"I wasn't sure if it would lead you here to me or not. How convenient."

She growled. "You owe me a set of clothes!" She declared unexpectedly, glaring at him. She held her ground, determined not to display any more of the quivering weakness that seemed to be eliminating from within her own heart and radiating outward, unsteadying her.

He blinked, standing. Obviously he wasn't prepared for a verbal onslaught. She was fully prepare to surprise him some more, as soon as she thought of a few ways.

He waved a hand absently and Kanna disappeared out the doorway without a word.

"Clothes?" He asked, nearing.

He reached out, snagging the old fur, and ripped it from her grip. She yelped, trying to hold on, but couldn't. The pelt hit the floor and Kagome watched, amazed, as a faint hissing sound filled the air - the fur evaporating in a foul smelling mist.

Naraku chuckled, touching a single fingertip to the hollow of her throat.

"So sensitive you are..." His voice was deep and velvety sounding.

He leaned closer pressing his mouth greedily against hers. She yelped as he pushed her back hard enough to tip her. She impacted the floor with a wince, her head snapping back hard against the wood planks.

She trembled at the cold draft running along the boards, bringing her hands up to cover her breasts. She turned wide eyes up to him, staring.

He knelt without a word further.

"Scream if you want.. It'll be more fun that way."

His grin was the first of many things she'd experience a second time as he pushed himself down over her, pulling her thighs to either side of him.

She began to struggle, and his laughter seemed to echo in the room, his lips wet against her collar bone.

"Good girl, fight it. We can both enjoy the extra... friction."

_. . . Save Me . . .

* * *

_

Naraku sat leisurely against the wall, a breeze flowing in through the open doors. Communing with nature, that's what he liked to think of afternoons like this.

He enjoyed windy afternoons the best.

Beyond him, on the floor, she lay.

She hadn't moved much since he'd left her there, half panting, half whimpering. In pain or pleasure, he wasn't sure. He didn't much care.

The scent of blood tainted the room, but not heavily.

Just enough to get his attention and remind him again why he liked this girl.

It was her blood, his blood, _their _blood.

She'd been vicious with her nails and it had been exquisite. He could feel the marks down his back, straight through his spider scar and the feeling had been beyond anything he'd known before.

He could still feel her beneath him, his hair pooling over his shoulders, the softness of her skin against his chest...

He sighed.

Perfect.

But perfection didn't last and he was getting impatient.

"Get up."

She moved slowly and he watched her wince. Beyond the screens, he noticed Kanna had arrived.

"No bath, dress her."

The void eyed girl did as she was bid, slowly enfolding Kagome into a deceptively white kimono with Kagome's cooperation. When she finally did look over at him, her eyes were again sharp and aware.

His grin returned.

He didn't like her lethargic and hazy for long periods.

He beckoned her with one hand over to him and she came, slowly. Her feet almost dragging on the floor. He inhaled deeply as she came to be by his side and knelt, folding herself onto the floor almost perpendicular to the way he sat.

He held out a hand, palm down, hiding the contents thereof. Apathetically, she lifted both of hers in a cupping motion to receive whatever he was handing over. A small, light weighted ball dropped into her hands, black as night and cold.

She stared and he stared at the corrupt Shikon no tama now in her palms.

Nothing happened.

The black haze darkening the little ball didn't lift, it didn't hiss into a murky miasma and drift into the sky, it didn't slowly clear, it didn't swirl, it didn't do anything.

Her corruption was complete.

Kagome stared at it impassively, eyes curiously blank. At that moment she resembled Kanna so much it amused him immensely. Kanna was his most obedient.

She closed her hands, cupping them together, the Shikon no Tama between her palms. Her lifeless eyes drifted closed.

Thunder might have boomed overhead, he couldn't be certain over the excited pounding of his heart.

He heard nothing now.

The sky darkened.

She remained still.

He turned his gaze sharply away as thunder boomed for certain and the hard pound of rain began just outside. The ground shook with the intensity of the thunder over head, the vibrations running up his spine excitedly.

The sky had darkened beautifully.

He turned back and her eyes fluttered open. She held open her hands, eyes a liquid bluish color, startlingly bright. They almost glowed.

Within her palms, the jewel had a lightless glow. Her eyes remained ahead of her, locked on nothing, absent, as though her soul were gone.

Within her palms, the jewel's glow increased and the rain slowed to an eerie stop. Stray raindrops collecting down from roof peaks and then splattering down onto the ground were the only sound.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Within her palms, the jewel flickered and crumbled, a tiny little wind swirled as the jewel disintegrated into black dust. The powder hovered ominously, before shimmering in bright, black sparkles, and vanished.

He snagged the front of her kimono, yanking her to him violently threats on the tip of his tongue, but she didn't even blink.

The sky darkened further.

He turned his gaze up, feeling the hair on his arms rise in alarm.

Kagome, jarred by his grabbing her, tipped over onto the floor as he released her and failed to move. He stood and looked down at her.

Completely unresponsive. Eyes open and empty, body slack - she looked dead.

What the hell had she done?!

From the sky, a single streak of light flashed down and Naraku was engulfed.

* * *

I yawned, dragging my schoolbag over my shoulder. So it was over. I don't remember anything after making my wish to the jewel, just darkness. I "woke" at home, strangely enough, on the well floor.

I had hoped I would wake up in bed or something, no such luck.

Not only had I woke on the well floor, I woke in the kimono Naraku had Kanna dress me in. Plus there was the fact I was bearing freshly inflicted "passion" wounds from Naraku. He'd left more than a handful of bruises and his penchant for the scent of blood had gotten me clawed down my arms, and once, painfully, down the center of my chest. The small area between my thighs had been semi-sticky and wet, which was a reminder I hadn't needed or wanted about just how out of control everything had really gotten.

I cursed Naraku as I recalled the little "rutting" session on his floor. I tried to ignore the fact the memory made me tingle.

Since then life had returned to normal. The well didn't work. I never saw any of my old friends again. I say "again" like it was ten years ago or something, it's been less than a month.

Save for my memories and the kimono, there was no evidence the well had ever been anything but a well with no water.

I stepped into the house quietly, and with a small relieved smile. There was something sweet about coming home from school everyday. I had enjoyed settling into my old lifestyle. My grades had improved vastly. My teachers were impressed, but I was disappointed I hadn't done better.

But there was always next semester.

I headed up the stairs to my room, stepping in, dropping my bag near the end of the bed onto the floor. I froze when I felt a certain, unusual chill.

_"You betrayed me, lovely."_

In the mirror, I spotted him.

I backed up, plastering myself against the door in fright as he rose, his beautiful black locks seems to dance behind him as though alive. His body, the same height and shape as I remembered. He was even still wearing a kimono, but without the fancy over-garments. The material was dark and loose across his chest.

"Betrayed..." He repeated, crowding me against my door.

The house was silent. I was alone.

I figured... Well, maybe it was stupid and presumptuous of me, but I figured Naraku would be dead by now. Naturally or unnaturally, I didn't care.

I had only wished for... What the hell kind of hanyou was he? I watched, mute in horror, as long, thin spikes rose out of his back, curling around him on either side. My eyes widened.

Spider legs!

"Do you like them, lovely?" He inched closer. "They were part of your wish, weren't they?"

I trembled, staring at the thin, hairy appendages. Each one looked like a living spear. Every spider-fearing girl's worst nightmare.

If he sprouted spider fangs and eyes, I would die right there.

He leaned close, our eyes meeting.

"Betrayed you?" I squeaked. "Oh, I don't know Naraku, you look alive and everything."

He hissed lowly. "I've been waiting for you, lovely."

He caught my wrist and I was _thrown_ onto my bed. Before I could even sit up, he was over me, pressing me into my own comforter. Some comfort, I thought sourly.

He moved over me in a way that forced my legs apart and I cringed. Oh, no, not that.

He must've seen the face I made because his grin widened.

"Miss me, lovely?"

He pressed a kiss to my lips before clamping his teeth down on my bottom lip. I yelped painfully and he drew back just enough to stare into my eyes.

"You didn't save anyone, lovely. Do you know?"

What? I gaped.

"The monk... died. If you thought doing this to me would cure him..." He broke into laughter. "The exterminator too, she went with him into that depthless little hell. The dirty hanyou gave his life to Kikyo and those irritating little pets of yours... Well, as a gift to you, lovely... I killed them myself."

I trembled. Did he mean Kirara and Shippou?

Tears brimmed in my eyes.

Bastard.

More laughter.

The spiky legs protruding from his back lengthened and shot towards me. At least four punctured my skin straight through my clothes.

"Feel good?" He purred before yanking them back. I cried out sharply, hearing my clothing tear away.

"What do you want from me?" I asked, breathlessly.

"You took my wish, lovely. So I'm taking you instead."

My breath hitched as he neared, lowering himself over me. His clothes and my underclothes between us.

He leaned, forcing his lips against mine. I heard a faint whizzing sound and felt his fingers digging into my hips as he ripped the cloth there away.

"Such a beautiful thing you are, lovely... Especially when you bleed."

I already knew I was bleeding, those stupid spider legs... Ahhh, that hurt.

Downstairs I heard the rattle of the door, and for a moment, I thought I was saved.

"Ah, looks like our fun is being interrupted. How unfortunate." He purred, sitting back from me. I watched the spider legs retract with the most disgusting sloshing and flesh slapping sound. "You look displeased, lovely."

"Stop calling me that!" I snapped again, but he seemed to only enjoy my resistance more. I wanted to cringe and shout and cover myself up all at the same time.

Yuck.

Yuck, yuck, yuck!

How did I get into this situation?

I was supposed to be the heroine! Everyone was supposed to live happily ever after, even _me._

Stupid lousy villains always screw things up!

I sat up, trying to brush off my self-consciousness about being naked on my bed with an insane hanyou leaning over me. I couldn't, so I crossed my arm across my chest.

"Get out of my room, get out of my house or I'll reduce you to ashes!"

He chuckled. I hated that laugh.

At least, I told myself I hated it.

But it was so sexy, wasn't it? Laughing in the face of purification. Ooh, yeah!

Bad, bad thoughts, Kagome.

I was drifting in my thoughts and unprepared for the grip that suddenly bore down on my hair. It felt like he was going to rip it out of my scalp. Instead, he pulled me nearer, forcing his lips against mine for a searing, brutal kiss before dropping his mouth down to my chin.

The bite of teeth should've been expected.

"I do so love your resistance." He neared, almost touching his forehead to mine. "But too much is too much, when we get home I'll think of a suitable punishment for you."

"Home?" I quickly pulled my thoughts back together. "The only person going home here is _you."_

At that exact moment, I was never so surprised, I heard my brother's voice as he announced he was home from school.

'Yeah, Souta!' I thought, foolishly, believing it would save me somehow.

What a silly girl I was...

He sat back, looking disgruntled but completely unruffled by this little kink in his master plan. I don't know, maybe it wasn't a kink at all. Maybe he'd thought about someone coming home before me.

He turned back to me, red eyes glinting.

"Remember that." He urged, reaching, snagging my wrists, pulling me up. "It's the last time you're going to hear his voice."

My eyes went wide with horror at the prospect of leaving my family. He dragged me up, hauling me over one shoulder.

"N-Naraku! Let me down!" I shouted, but not loud enough to draw Souta to my room. I didn't want my brother getting involved, I wasn't about to let him get hurt because of me.

Naraku ignored me and leapt out my window. Before I could say a word a black and purple cloud of miasma swept around us - and, I, suddenly overwhelmed with his toxic fumes, passed out.

* * *

When I woke, I was in a brightly lit room. Something so strange and bouncy I was sure I'd dreamt the whole thing. The room was set in varying shades of white and pink.

There was simply no way Naraku lived in a place like this.

Standing, I walked to the door.

I wasn't about to go sneaking around. My head was pounding and strangely enough my knees felt a little weak.

I had just gotten the door open when I felt hands on my shoulders, steadying me.

"Feeling weak, lovely?"

I growled, punching him right in the chest. How dare he just walk up to me like that? How dare he kidnap me? How dare he even live this long!

"You bastard! I'm am so gonna kill you!"

The hands on my shoulders tightened as he suddenly pushed me backwards against the door. Only halfway open the door swung back, slamming against the wall as Naraku held me to it.

"Don't make me promises you can't keep." He murmured, before leaning close, as though _threatening_ to kiss me. "There's nothing I like more than...disappointment."

His laughter made me tingle. It must be a crime to love that sound, I thought, watching him with narrowed eyes.

I muttered obscenities at him for all of a handful of seconds before he took my lips, bruising me with his mouth. His hands found the cloth of the yukata _he'd _dressed me in and I heard it rip. The cool air of the house assaulted my skin.

I closed my eyes, not sure if I was trying to not look at him or enjoy the feel of his mouth against mine.

He was a plunderer, a conqueror. The touch of his fingertips and the innocent brush of his clothes against mine made me ache. The scent of him was all around me. I was floating in a bad, bad dream.

I gasped when his hands returned to me, digging into my hips as he lifted me suddenly, pulling my legs around his waist.

His bare waist.

My eyes flew open to see he'd shed his clothes.

I blinked, perhaps in astonishment, but it certainly wasn't horror. I'd been in this predicament before and the liquid warmth I felt inside me told me I wasn't exactly dreading it. I gasped when he bit me, a hiss of pain escaping my lips when he tongue salved over the wound and it burned.

Burned like he'd poured rubbing alcohol on it, quick and sharp.

He pulled his hips closer to mine and I bit my lip expecting a painful thrust, but he was slow, achingly slow, sliding into me.

I wrapped my arms around him to steady myself as he stopped, sheathed in me completely.

He leaned near to my ear, licking the lobe and then grasping it with his teeth.

"I... on the other hand, lovely... _never_ disappoint."

. . . save me from the dark . . .

* * *

The End

Author's Notes: Finally! -sigh-


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